Liverpool and Tottenham row over youth cup rules dispute

Once Spurs heard that Liverpool had mounted a protest against them they decided not to contest the accusation and withdrew from the cup, gifting Liverpool a semi-final against the winners of the Barcelona vs Ajax tie.However, the north London-based club feel aggrieved at the Merseysiders' behaviour. They believe Liverpool included players who had been recruited for substantial transfer fees.A Spurs statement in The Mail on Sunday said: “It is with regret that we have decided to withdraw from the NextGen tournament due to an accidental breach of a competition regulation.”The manager of Tottenham’s NextGen team, Tim Sherwood, added: “It is disappointing.” Mark Warburton, head of football for NextGen, also commented: “This is unfortunate. However, we can only applaud Tottenham for demonstrating such impeccable levels of sportsmanship.”